whr-nggg16-garratt

The Welsh Highland Railway NGG16 Garratt locomotives are four South African Railways 2-6-2+2-6-2 articulated Garratt steam engines repatriated from South Africa and now operating the principal passenger services on the Welsh Highland Railway — the restored 25-mile narrow-gauge line running from Caernarfon through the mountains of Snowdonia to Porthmadog, the longest heritage railway in Wales and one of the most spectacular in Britain. Numbers 138, 140, 143, and 87 are in service on the WHR, hauling the railway's regular passenger trains through the dramatic mountain scenery of the Aberglaslyn Pass and the Glaslyn valley.

The NGG16 Garratt's articulated configuration — essential for the WHR's tight curves through the mountain passes — and its powerful output make it ideal for the demanding WHR route, where the combination of severe gradients, sharp curvature, and long train lengths demanded a powerful but manoeuvrable locomotive that could not be met by a conventional rigid-frame design on the 2 ft gauge. See the main SAR NGG16 Garratt entry for full details of the type's history and engineering.